Thursday, February 14, 2013

Product Reccommendation - Winter

Over the years throughout my endless trials and tribulations in the world of beauty products, when it comes to my body and facial routine, I've increasingly leaned towards the use of various oils. I use many different oils for my body, in fact - I haven't used actual body lotion in years. I find that lotion is really just a weakened version of skin moisturizer ... the active moisturizing element of lotions are the oils inside them. In addition, lotions tend to be either non-effective or they leave a waxy feeling on my skin and never fully absorb. Body oils leave me soft and silky, although the trick is applying them just after shower/bath, or the absorption isn't the same.

This rule also applies to facial oils - to be applied immediately after your face comes into contact with water. Continuing on this note, today I want to write about this particularly unexplored concept in skincare - facial oils. I know, I know....scary thought, slathering AN OIL on your face. Most people tend to be hesitant towards putting an oil on their face. Many people with acne prone skin have been miseducated and taught that they can't use oil on their face, that it will surely cause pimples and breakouts. After speaking with numerous estheticians and a few dermatologists, it turns out that oils are not the kryptonite to acne prone skin as we previously thought. In fact, oils can bring the essential moisture your skin needs without all of the irritating added ingredients (perfumes, preservatives, additives) that lotions typically contain, and actually cause less breakouts overall. The trick is finding the right oil for you, and many people don't like to mess around with the annoying process of testing numerous products, all while enduring breakout after breakout on the seemingly endless journey to find just the right product. Which is why.....I wanted to recommend this one to you all!

All-organic Evanhealy produces many products that I've found myself enjoying. However, this serum in particular is one that I have returned back to many times, and I've been successfully using it for about 6 months now. My small white bumps and large angry bumps historically are incredibly stubborn. NOTHING made a difference - prescription creams all the way into every existing department store product as well as anything Walgreens carries. This Rosehip Facial Serum actually evened my skintone out and seems to have calmed my skin. It's labeled as a "serum", but it's really an oil. Truthfully, had it been labeled an "oil" and not a "serum", I probably would have been a bit hesitant to buy it. Evanhealy probably realizes this about their consumer base, which is why they avoided the word "oil" on the label. It soaks in fast, does not leave an oily feeling, and doesn't cause breakouts for me. I did some research into rosehip oil (the main ingredient) which is widely regarded as an aid in anti-aging, scar healing and photo aging. It's also high in vitamin A (Retinol, Retin-A, used in MANY skin products) and vitamin C. Take note: this is the "blue" rosehip facial serum - they also make a "rose" version, which is just slightly more viscous and takes a little bit longer to soak in. I'd recommend the rose version for people with truly dry skin.

Give it a try! Its available at Whole Foods, Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco in addition to their website, it's reasonably priced at $25 and lasts me about a month and a half. By the time I found this, I had pretty much come to expect nothing from any product I tried...so if the eternal skincare-cynic is giving it a thumbs up, you might just have some success with it too. I slather this on immediately after thoroughly washing my face and swiping a toner pad over it to ensure ALL makeup is removed, and I follow it with a light moisturizer (Weleda Iris Hydrating Facial Fluid...I'll save another blog post for that :-)